World's Smallest, Fastest Nanomotor

5/22/2014

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Scientists at the Cockrell
School of Engineering at The University of Texas have manufactured the tiniest,
fastest and longest-running small synthetic motor to date. The team's nanomotor
is a vital step in the direction of developing tiny machines that could one day
move through the body to administer insulin for diabetics when required, or aim
and treat cancer cells without damaging good cells.

With the objective of operating
these yet-to-be invented devices, UT Austin engineers concentrated on building
a reliable, ultra-high-speed nanomotor that can transform electrical energy
into mechanical motion on a scale 500 times smaller than a grain of salt.

Mechanical engineering associate
professor Donglei "Emma" Fan directed a team of researchers in the effective
strategy, assembly and analysis of a high-performing nanomotor in a
nonbiological setting. The team's three-part nanomotor can quickly mix and pump
biochemicals and travel through liquids, which is vital for future
applications. The group's study was distributed in the April issue of Nature
Communications.